high blood pressure?

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  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    nursekirsty wrote: »
    Hi

    attended my GP last week and my BP was 169/93, so i was advised to go away and come back today. Seen the nurse ( had myself a little worked up) and my BP was 165/103 :-(.

    Has anyone managed to reverse High BP? i know weight loss is paramount (i have 100lbs to lose), lost 5lbs this week, gave up alcohol and caffiene, but my BP is raised again, it really is a sad story and its getting me down I been crying since I came back home. Seeing the GP later today, hopefully he will give me a tablet to reduce my BP in the interim whilst i try and get as much weight off me in the coming months. Hopefully he doesn't find this unreasonable.

    Sorry just needed to get this all off my chest :-(

    Yup, mine was worse when I weighed 305 lbs. It's normal now thanks to regular exercise, a little healthier diet, and a crap ton of weight loss. Make this your wake up call. Start exercising, get healthy and lose weight until you are in a normal BMI.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Managing BP with a healthy diet and regular exercise is possible...and losing weight may help...and there are numerous other reasons to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Just keep in mind that often it's a hereditary issue as it is with me. I'm lean and fit and eat a healthy diet but I'm still on meds...granted, before I was lean and fit my BP was still 135/88 on average...meds + losing weight + eating well + regular exercise I average around 117/75
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
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    After thirty medicated years I did.

    The big thing for me was weight. I was obese and when my BMI got close to healthy it dropped!

    Others mentioned DASH, good plan. At least I believe it helps. Good to cut out or down on alcohol and smoking too.

    Good luck. I'm forever greatfulto be off the meds. I'd take them again if I had too. The idiot dr. I had put me on a medication that I had issues with.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    health.harvard.edu/heart-health/key-minerals-to-help-control-blood-pressure

    @nursekirsty this from Harvard may be helpful. While most of us take in more calcium than needed per some about 80% of us come up short on magnesium. Short of having failing kidneys over dosing on magnesium is very hard to do. I started taking magnesium because of leg cramps specifically but general muscle cramps as well. Plus low levels of magnesium is associated with premature death from heart disease.

    medicalnewstoday.com/articles/255783.php

    "Low magnesium levels have been found to be the best predictor of heart disease, contrary to the traditional belief that cholesterol or saturated fat play the biggest roles."
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    edited January 2017
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    While I was not in a high risk category - my bp was trending upwards 130/75 and my doctor was asking me if I wanted to try medicine. This was one of many wake up calls to lose weight. After losing 60 lbs and incorporating a healthy lifestyle I am consistently reading around 112/65.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    edited January 2017
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    I was on BP meds in the 1980s, lost weight and got in shape, went off them. Then I had to go back on them after my weight went back up again. They finally found a mix of meds that keeps my BP normal, and it includes atenolol which also is beneficial for my atrial fibrillation.

    Now, I'm within 10-15 pounds of my end weight and sometimes have periods of dizziness due to my BP going too low so my doc has tweaked my meds. My BP seems to be tightly coupled to my weight, and the amount of sodium in my diet doesn't seem to affect it much (I've tried an experiment cutting down Na and it had no effect). My years of drinking alcohol didn't help either.

    So yeah, losing weight can help a lot -- but it's not a guarantee you won't need meds to control it. I'm on meds for atrial fibrillation as well as hypertension, and am monitored 4x a year for my prostate cancer. It's called being mortal, and if we live long enough health problems are going to crop up for most of us.

    Having to go on coumadin for my atrial fib was frankly more depressing than being on BP meds.
  • jennifer3998
    jennifer3998 Posts: 144 Member
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    The people who are telling you that you can manage it on your own could be wrong. For example, sodium only affects the blood pressure of 50% of the population. I have high BP (normal body weight) and I spent months tracking my food and sodium religiously. I also, as I always had at that time of my life, exercised (hard) six days a week. I got my BP down slightly. The doctor looked at me and kindly said, "Knock it off and just take the medication. Clearly this is genetic." That was 15 years ago and still, if I miss it for a day, it goes right back up. My sister and mother are also in the same situation.

    So don't be totally discouraged if lifestyle changes do not cure the problem. Try of course, but if that doesn't work the meds are a perfectly acceptable solution!

    Cheers and good luck!
    Jennifer
  • nursekirsty
    nursekirsty Posts: 110 Member
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    Thanks taken 40mg of propanolol and it's 135/86 whilst it's not ideal it's much better and I feel less stressed about it all - just need to keep going and get the weight off - 6lbs lost this week - 94llbs to go
  • omakase619
    omakase619 Posts: 226 Member
    edited January 2017
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    My bp was 147/84 at its high in December. My body can sense when my bp is high and I was feeling horrible. It was mostly my fault because I ate unhealthy for years and didn't exercise for like a year. Before taking meds I wanted to my part so I read up on everything on high bp and foods good for high bp.

    The last week in a half of December I made a drastic change in my diet I gave up all meats for a week. Just by doing this I saw a dramatic improvement to my bp in one week 135/80. I was encouraged and I set up a diet routine of eating plenty of greens, reducing refined sugars, and eating more healthy proteins like fish, and chicken. This was the main reason for me to join Mfp cause I needed to keep track of my daily nutritional intake.

    Fast forward to the present (basically 1 month) my bp readings: 120/73 is my new highs, and 108/60 lows

    My diet rountine:
    -eating or blending two stalks of celery daily with other greens and fruits( 1 banana, 1kiwi, blueberries)
    -eating a tablespoon of raw ginger(blended or dropped in tea)
    -drinking two cups of hibiscus/aronia berry tea with raw ginger in it
    -drinking green tea at night
    -I cut my calorie intake to (1150-1500)
    -reduced refine sugars and reduce grains

    Exercise: whatever dash recommended I did. 40 mins of cardio 5-6 times a week. ( I just walk uphill, and jump rope) nothing too intense
    -started working my core
    -started some strength training

    The results: (this might not work everyone but it helped me)

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    Oh and I started a breathing technique called the 4-7-8 to reduce my stress. (I think it helps)
    - started flossing daily too.

    My sleep apnea is gone and I feeling great. Good luck!

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